This invention relates to an ultrasonic image recording method and system for recording, together with an ultrasonic image obtained through processing an ultrasonic reception signal from, for example, the living tissue of a subject, and associated ultrasonic scanning condition data, on a common recording sheet.
In order to preserve an ultrasonic image of a region of interest (ROI) of a subject, obtained by use of an ultrasonic image system, an ultrasonic image, as well as the ultrasonic condition data associated therewith, is recorded in a time sequence on a common recording sheet. FIG. 1 shows one format of such a recording sheet. Recording sheet 26 is a length of a continuous sheet and is fed in the recording system in a predetermined direction. Ultrasonic images 24a, 24b,. . . such as a B mode image, an M mode image, or a Doppler mode image, are recorded on most of the recording sheet, and ultrasonic scanning conditions 25a, 25b, . . . , associated with the ultrasonic images, are recorded on the recording area, in a longitudinal, direction, with each ultrasonic image being set adjacent to an ultrasonic scanning condition area, so as to obtain ultrasonic images, in combination with the aforementioned condition areas. Ultrasonic images 24a, 24b,. . . and ultrasonic scanning condition data 25a, 25b,. . . are sequentially recorded by a line-scan recorder (hereinafter referred to as LSR) on a common recording sheet, noting that the length of one ultrasonic image, for example, 24a, is usually of the order of a few meters.
Of the ultrasonic images recorded on a relatively long sheet, only a portion, in the order of, for example, 30 cm is usually required for actual use. If the ultrasonic scanning condition is altered during part of the recording, no ready matching can be obtained between the ultrasonic image and the ultrasonic scanning condition data. Furthermore, it is sometimes necessary that a required ultrasonic image portion be preserved together with the corresponding ultrasonic scanning condition areas 25a, 25b. It is also difficult to obtain a time matching of the ultrasonic image area with the associated ultrasonic scanning condition area in the case where the ultrasonic image is simultaneously recorded on a recording sheet and on a video tape recorder (VTR).
Where, in the conventional ultrasonic image system, the ultrasonic image and ultrasonic scanning condition data are to be recorded on the same recording sheet, the recording data are sequentially recorded in a different area, and it is therefore difficult to fully utilize them for data analysis. It is particularly important that the ultrasonic image and ultrasonic scanning condition data be recorded on the same recording area.